Tobacco Documents Online

nstitu!te NeWVsletter PREPARED FOR YOUR INFORMATION BY THE INSTITUTE STAFF 1T781 N'. STREET~, N.W., WASHINGTON,' D.O. 20006: • 29blM71' Number 88 December 17, 1973 IT WAS' FRONT-PAGE'NEWS INiSTOCKHOLM':: Friberq, Cederlof and associates disclosed mortality figures among 9,000 pairs of identical and fraternal. Swedish twins'.up to 71 years old whom they've been studying for 11i years. Their conclusions are that, all told!, higher death rates are associated with greater smoking. But--among identical twins where one ils a smoker and the other isni't, there's no di~fference in death rates. "The result," said one Swedi~sh,paper, "shows that smoking itself does not cause higher rate of death,. " London Times picked up the story, but there was no U.S•publicity, despite the fact that,AMA's Archives of Environmental Health, carried an 11-page report by the,researchers,, who acknow'ledged'. AMA,ERF support for part of their work. "GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES' are being urgedi to blow the whistle on airlines that don't segregate smokers from non-smokers," said a UPI story about a Civil Aeronautics Board memo to its 680 employees asking them to be "ob- servers" for CAB when they travel by air, and to report to the Board''s of'fice of consumer affairs on violations of the smoking rules, andlwhatt action, if'any,, the crews took to stop the violations. IRATE over the idea of using federal employees as "spies," N.C. senior Sen. Ervin (D) asked, his colleagues on the Senate floor if "these bureaucrats will openly announce their presence--orr whether they will sneak about under cover, perhaps wearing red wigs and filing top secret reports on the smokers of America..." He asked the chairman'of the CAB to "call off this activity andd to stick, to the purposes of the agency." At the end of the week, CAB wiithdrew its employee instructions. "IF SMOKING WERE PROHSBITED1IN ST., LOUIS,"'said the'story on the UPI ticker from that city at 9~:24 a.m.,, "it would cut dbwn the levels of

-2- carbon carbon monoxide in the air more than a redhction in automobile exhaustt emissiion, according to a study..." Incredulous, TI staff queried UPIi at St. Louis at 9:45 for detaiils., Response was that it was a miistake. At 2:35 p.m. the wire carriedithe new ve:rsion: "A year-long study shows that a high level of carbon monoxide in a person's blood' is caused more, by whether he is a smoker or works in an industrial plant than by auto- mobile emissions in the St. Louis area." Baltimore Sun reported on a study with similar implications presented at the American Heart Assn. annual meeting by Johns Hopkins researchers who comparedlBaltimore auto emiissions and, heart disease deaths. ***, *~* *** *** UNRELIABILITY OF STATISTICS tak!en from death,certificates was underscored iin alM'etropoliitan Life news release last month: "...When chronic'respiratory diseases coexist with other serious conditions, it is often difficult to determine which of the sev eras cond'itions~present was the underlying cause of death. The statisticians suggest that existing,coding practices may have the effect of minimizing the danger of such:diseases which, in one inquiry, were present at the time of death in nine times as many cases as those in which,they were listed as the:primary cause." IN THE JOURNAL OF THEIFLORIDA MEDICAL ASSOCIATIONi,, Dade County Medical Examiner Davis appealed to the state Diviision of Health to require that "cigarette smoking"'be listed' onideath certificates when in the judgment of the certifier it'is a factor in deathifromi"smoking related diseases." M'eanwhilie, Davis said, doctors should do so on their own. HERE, IN PART, iis what the Arkansas Gazette reportediabout a speech in Little Rock by Roger Schmidt, exec., director of the National Interagency Council on Smokingi &a: Healthr. "He spoke at the invitation of the Arkansas Interagency Council,, one of 45 satellites of the natiional organization..,.He saidlthe. Council was attempting to fight the $9~billiion-a-year tobacco industry with little capital of its own. The Council's annual $;45',000 budget comes from a number of the 33' anti-smoking agen- cies--such as the Lung and Heart Associations--th,at comprise it.,..He toTdlthe group to:push for state legisllation...similar to one at New York under which smokers are required,to pay a higher tax on,cigarettes with a high tar and nicotine content., He said.the law had 'brought flack from the tobacco industry„' which is a sure-fire way of telling if antii-smoking programs are effective." LAST SEPTEMBER,, Sen., Helms (R-N.C.) delivered a major, speech inithe Senate on the folly of so-called "tar" and nicotine taxes on cigarettes. TI: has

-3- completed personal mailing of reprints to each governor, and to every member of the llegislature:s in 47 states., HARVARD'S SELTZ'ER', earlier this year in the: New England Journal of Medicine, used'.Do111"s data to show that while British doctors' smoking was lessening,, their heart disease mortality rose. Other scientists subsequently quarreled' wi~th him in the NEJ letters columns, and liast'month he replied, explaining further the statistics, and' concluded: "Unless these conflicts in the data are satisfactorily dliisproved'or reconciled, the current enthusilasmifor cigarette smoking as almajor riisk factor in coronary heart,disease may become an outstandli~ng fallacy of our era. "' MEANWHILE, Seltzer told UPI that refuting a,statement from the Public Health Service or the American Heart Assn. "is like attacki~ng motherhood."' S'elltzer said, "The young fellows are afraid to make a study -- afraid of their jobs..,.Why should the Public,Heallth Service be any more infallible than the Justice Department?"' LUTHER TERRY'spoke in Denver on "Smokingiand Health--Ten Years Later", claimed that between 250,000 and 350,000 Americans will die prematurely this year because of smoking,, and'called for a new push:to prohibit all cigarette adbertising. IDENTIFYING BANZHAF as the person "who initiated the legal moves that 1',~1`1_ eventually forcedicigarette ads off broadcast media," Ad Age reported that he is contemplating legal action against cigarette billboard ads, "coTlecting photos of billboards in locations where they are seen by chil- dren." U.S. Tobacco Journal warned in an editoriall that "he be taken seriously." MICH'IGAN'HEART'ASSN. has published--and Sencer who, as director of HEW's Center for Disease Control is Horn's boss, is pushing its distributilon--a leaflet titled "W'arning: High Blood Pressure Is Hazardous to Your Health." It says overwei~ght, diabetes or "excessive" smoking can increase the:risk of strokes, but thatt untreated high blood pressure is "the,biggest,, singile cause."' NASSAU ACADEMY OF MEDIC'INEI, Garden City, Long Island, sponsored a Cancer Preventive Workshop where teenagers cou:Td'view a ten, minute antismoking fi~Tm that pictured,what Newsday called "the charred lungs of a cancer patient"'and other "gruesome" scenes of disease victims. WESTERN MICHIGAN elements of the American,Lung Assn., have broken away and, are making their own,"Christmas Seal" fund drive in a wide midwestern area, according to the Lansing State Journal. A spokesmanifo:r the "disaffiliiated organizations" was quoted as sayingithat ALA has lost touch with community needs and has become more concerned with its owni"superstructure_" He said the national organization is removing itself'from direct indlivid'ua1l service programs, adding, "We have a deep feeling that if you,raise funds

-4- for special things, you should use them to help people wi~th those spe- cific problems."' MEANWHILE,, here is an excerp.t from ALA's newest annual report„ showing how ALA's propaganda efforts have proliferated:, Against Smoking. The, Associations throughout the coun- try took:part in a variety of educational and other activities; for example, the C'onnecticut Association published a guide, for stu+ dent leaders of'a school anti-smoking campaign; it was sched= uled for republishing by National... . Smoking Education Week in January 1973 was a time of action~ carried out in collabora- tion with the National Interagency Council on Smoking,andl Health and its: member organizations; for example, a legislative briefing for members of Congress was held'in Washing(on: ... Smoking cessation clinics were held in many places; for exam- ple, bpy the Telephone Pioneers of America, with Associatiom help and materials. ... Association people met with the Amerii can College of ChesrPhysicians and other agencies to work out: ideas on how physicians and nurses could help patients who: ought to stop smoking. Public EdUeation.'"Ten Million Women Have Quit Smok- ing;' a NationallAssociation leaflet' in newspaper:format, was distributed in over:three-qparters of'amillion copies in its first six months. ..."As You Live You~Breathe,'," a picture booklet, went, to a qpartenr of a milliomn children.... Three of' twelve monthly health posters and leaflets, a new edition of "Cigarette Smoking; The Facts," radio and tvmateriais and health columns for newspapers all were on the anti4smoking theme.... Asida fromth'ree, taped rad io programs and ian appearance by ahe med- ical director on the Mike Douglas show, the three television networks, NBC, CBS and ABC; used National Association anti- smoking spots 127 times; CBS andIABC'radio used anti-smok- ing messages 95' times. Local stations used, many more suchh items, furnished them by, state and local Associations. CORRECTION: The last issue of the Newsletter included a story about ALA's fund raising,expenses. It said that in a recent year ALA used $4a,74!1,0000 to raiise $42,335,000. The correct figure should be $10,14'8,000 to raise $42,335,,000., DORN,long ago found a,risk, of smokers (amongiU.S'. veterans) having a stroke 1.33 times higher than for nonsmokers!; Dolll and H,illl said the ri.sk was 11.,12',times higher among British,smokiingidoctors; the:Fr:amingham study put it at three times higher for smoking men~. Now Nomura,, a Johns Hopkins epidemiollog,ist„ has reported to the AmerilcaniHeart Assn:., that he has found the relative risk lower for smokers after studying the population,of a, Maryland county. But Medical Tribune, a free newspaper sent to alll phy- siciians:, conceded little in!its headline on the Nomura story. It read: "Stroke's Link WithiSmoking Held Minimal." WASHSNGTON!U., researchers Kuo, Rosai and' Tilllack reported' in International Journal of Cancer on their work to date in iso- lating glycoprotein from breast cancer tissue, but said'"whether there is a breast-cancer-specific antigen associated with the cell membrane remains to be demonstr,ated."' The report acknowl- edged'suppor:t from U.S. tobacco companies and growers and the Public HealthiService. NEW'YORK,TIMES', LONDON'SUNDAY'TIMES and other papers gave readers details af:new research showing that persons with high,blood levels of an enzyme ca111edIAHH may be predisposed to lung cancer.. The factor can be determined by a complicated blooditest. Commenting onithe study, Sir Rich,ard' Doll said: "If these results are confirmed, about 50 per cent of people cann smoke withirelative,impunity but the rest must be most careful not too C. W Ln ® smoke at all. "' Z..7 "NATTONAL COMMISSION ON~EGG NUTRITION" began buying nearly full, pages of ~ newspaper space: (see illustration on p.5:) to tell readers "there is

-5- ftlestml and the Egg. Ml/St2 hWhw mwaau'a. ~Ma'n ~ .a tf CnY ~ 'lruien . btl N mY.bY 0/abh.1M.. n..wvW~eti.'n.airn~fieN fOPwnw~crrvaw ~uaa~.piooca~y.~ m. sp ~ d.~.. lavcitl~ w ~v ~.ou~a nin.unM.•ye ~.° Kbrii°.`Oa1 N+ w.. [Nti.ae+un~i.mu. E.cuu.. IY.+C.cK'+nwtl~. u. Cu~a~ry Gtt. d W~•w~xi~~ bi . Iw ~ ~J ~d.PtYAqIN,MTM.Nnn ~~Cn.Nn.JN~M fbd-.+ar.c...nH.n.Ya b G...M B4N.'m..cieM1ruol.v~'w.N.T.F.n~ r.y.mo x..rcryrnneCa ]tl]'.mL'1'W'.m. e410.wy~un bu~mma'IV a.. ~e. nrqNeY Nex cq~'M.9MOr~lM ww p~.,.. Tr.Y.l.eM.ryae~rLMe'..MY.. w.Ibrq.q.M. NATIqNWL LOMMdSSION ON IEGG~NWTRITION', ,.--N ..................•-. -------- ------------ r~r.-...w..... ~. C ------------ ----------- absolutely no scientific evidence that eating,eggs in any way increases: the ri~sk of heart disease." New York Times said the ad's are inspired by &one-fourth drop in per capita egg'consumptioniin the U.S. from'the WW2 peak. "Leading authorities on heart diseases and cholesterol„"'said the Times,, "have called the adls 'irresponsible," 'inaccurate' and a"gross diistortionlof the facts."" It said that Action on Safety' & Hsalth, (Banzhaf uses his ASH, acronym for that, too), "'is prepariingi to file a com- plaint with the Federal Trade Commission, asserting that the ads are 'false,and'imisleadling.,'" Saide o~neadm I "'You"ve been meaning to start on that diet because youi're I f~ somewhat overweight but you are awfully fond of many foods 'I

you shoul ~E~ ArtB"5'm'okI~g ~.ybi3'know you 6 've up cigarette but it is hard. And you probably ack on drinki somewhat too. It sort of reminds you the old' saw, 'Everything L like is either illegal, immoral or fattening" --and makes you wonder what's next!" "What's pext" in the copy iis eggs, andlthe ads tell readers that eatingAhem does not in- ~ crease chol te o counts r A/.e ~. C.amwa~zG M'EANWH'ILEI, Nat'l Assn. of Broadcasters announced a new TV Code policy„ pending,"final review" by Jan. 151, whi~ch,will require cigarette smokingi andihigh blood pressure be referred to as CHD:"r:isk factors" in any com- mercials which suggest that low-cholesterol oils and margiarines have heallth,benefits.. **~, ~** ON THE SMOKER/NONSMOKER ISSUE: emphis Cbmmercial Appeal supported a pro- posal to segregate smokers at a oliseum i:that city andlsaid that "it might be a good idea,just to ban smoki /at all coliseum events. That's been done in theaters for years." : okane Spokesman Review printed a, reader's letter which said in part:, "Public,establishments which refuse to prohibit smoking in at least half their area should be deprived of their 1'icenses to operate on the grounds that their continued'operation constitutes a clear and present danger to the public health." ...An ASH associate wrote the Knoxville News-Sentinel and said': "What we really need are strong laws to require the separation of smokers from other pas- sengers and provide penalties for those facilities whiichido not effectively control smokers from harassiing other passengers."...Walnut Creek,, Calif. Chamber of Commerce polledibus!inesses in,its town about a possiblie city ordinance to ban smoking in public places~or to segregate smokers., With a mixed response, the Chamber recommended that the city not enact an ordi- nance:. DAVIS, CALIF., well known in the antismoking community for i~ts early move to segregate smokers, was the subject of'a roundup story about the Locali legislation in the San Francisco Examiner- Chronicle. A reporter interviewed several local business en- trepreneu:rs,andifound varying reactions to Davis' ordinance to ban smoking in cer:tai~n public places~. Now city councillmen are. toyingiwith the idea of an all-out ban on smok,ing in public places. Reaction by restaurant operators was not favorable. GASP--GYoup Ag;asn,st Smoking,Pollution--held its first meeting last month in,Fremont (suburban Oakland')„ Calif. A news story in the Oakliand'Tri- bune,said: "If'youl're upset,or concerned about tobacco smoke in public places, here's your chance to rally behind the flag of GASP." A ONE-DAY ANTISM'OKI'NG CONFERENCE took,place at DePaul Hospital,, St. Louis, as hospital personnel indicated they had se:nsed' the "angry mood of nonsmokers who wanted' immediate action taken-- no: ifs, ands or butts~about it," according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The meeting was one of'three planned nati~onally

-7- by the American College of Radiology to make hospital employees aware of the allegedidangers of smoking and to seek bans on smoking in hospitals throughout the country,, the: newspaper said. "TRAINS„ PLANES, HOTELS, insurance companies and corporations hopped on the no-smoking bandwagon in setti~ngiup segregated areas," said the Chi- cago Tribune article reprinted in the Detroit Free Press. It,featured ASH, described the Arizona segregation statute as:"ASH's greatest coup." COMMENTING ON THE ARIZONA LAW which bans smoking in certain public places without smoking facilities, the Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette said the "Arizona action points up a fact that generally is known but seldom acted upon.. This is that the great majority of the public doesn't smoke, andith:at smokers~' 'rights' at best are minority favors accorded by a tolerant majority." SMOKING WAS BANNED in the Miami Spri~ngs (Fla.) city council chamber after the council's unanimous vote. An attempt at,a smoking ban last year hadi failed., A St. Petersburg VFW,post advertised a"non-smokers room"'as a feature of its weekly bingo game. THE CLASSIFIED AD IN MS., magazine said, "Nonsmokers:: Fight pulmonary rape!" It was signed by ASHi. If' youlanswered„ youu received,a fund-raising appeal signed by, Banzhaf, several anti- tobacco leaflets and a couple of'Congressional Record reprints of speeches by smoking foes in Congress. ASSOCIATED PRESS distributed aistory about how "Oak Ridge National Labora- tories, one of the world's largest nuclear energy research institutions, is putting its talents to work on determining just how hazardous smokingi is to your health." It said that Michael Guerin,, "a group leader for ORNL"s bio-organic analysis group," believes that "almost everything in tobacco smoke i~s potentially hazardous." The story went on: "Guerin said the laboratories had been keeping their smoke research activities quiet because the researchers were concerned that it would be considered a waste of the taxpayers' money." It quoted Guerin as saying that "for every $10 spent for cig,are:ttes,, only one cent goes for smoking researcti."' SMOKING'WAS SKIPPED OVER as a major causal factor imthe de- velopment of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) by participants at a seminar conducted by the Epidemiology Branch of the National Heart and Lung Institute and heldiat NIIH earlier this month. TI covered the seminar and heard brief inention of cigarette smoking as a possible causali factor in CHD but all the par- ticipants agreed that stress was a more probable factor., Out- spoken anthropologist Dr. Margaret Mead was there and said, different,peoples suffer from what she called "population, vulnerability" which may explain high U.S. CHD:death rates.

-8- Science magazine saidlin an editorial that "about 30 percent of cancer deaths of men in the United States are attributable to cigzrette,smoking."' BRITISH MEDIA REPORTED:that Courtauldls h,as agreed to cease its test mar- keting of "Planet," a cigarette made from a tobacco substitute (Newsletter 87)~. DaiL Mail medical correspondent John Stevenson saidlthe move has "averted aicrisis of confidence in the 'oure' tobacco industrv." Courtauld's had a voluntary agreement with the British~govt. to:test market. "Planet" for only three weeks. THE BRITISH Sec. of State for Social Services, Sir Keith Joseph, toldlParliament that there will be a revised "tar"-nicotine liist appearing early in 1974. Iniaddition,he said the Health Edu- cation Council is producing a,new antismok,ing filmifor schooll children and'will also' mount a campaign emphasizing the alleged dangers of smoking during pregnancy. Sir Keith, also said that next April a national conference willl open in Lond'on~, jpintly organized by the Heal!th!Education Council and Action on Smoking andlHeaDth,,, to focus on publicizing the alleged dangers of smoking. ENERGY SAVING coordinators were appointed by two major cigarette companies. Tobacco Institute did its bit,, too--its offices were cooler and dimmer. THE ENCLOSED GREEN LEAFLET„ "Smoker or Nonsmok:er?'" is now available in quantity'from,The Tobacco Institute., Note that it invites readers to write TI for a more detaiiled statement on the smoker/nonsmoker questionn that refutes propaganda currently being circulated throughout,the nation by tobacco adversaries., ALSO, COPIES OF TI'S NEWEST ADDITION to the "Tobacco History Series," Louisiana & Tobacco, are now available by contacting, The Institute. ### I r-~